Today, I Choose Holiness

Proverbs 4:23-27
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right what to the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Holiness is a choice. No one makes me live a life of sin — I choose to. No one forces me to live in a holy and righteous way — I choose to.

God requires that His children “be holy as He is holy”. But, I am not a robot that must follow its programming. God lays before me a choice: life (holiness) or death (sinfulness). The choice is still mine to make.

In this section of Proverbs, the writer instructs his son to “guard his heart.” He then gives him a laundry list of the ways he can/should guard his heart. The son must:

— not allow unrighteousness to flow from his mouth

— keep his eyes straight ahead, looking neither to the left or right. In the words of Phineas F. Bresee, “Nothing to the left; nothing to the right; Jesus only!”

— choose the path carefully, ensuring that any obstacles or traps are avoided.

Holiness is a choice. God gives me the tools I need to live the way He wants me to live. He even gives me His ever-present Holy Spirit to guide me along the path of life to live. But, even with all of this at my disposal, the choice is still mine to make. So, today, I choose holiness.

I will do all that I can to guard my heart today. I will be intentional and thoughtful and my conversations. I will (with diligence) keep my eyes on Jesus and the goals He has for me. I will watch out for any hazards that might come along to trip me up or caused me to fall off the path I am to take. Finally, I will trust in the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. As I sense his voice, I will immediately follow.